If you are investing for a return on capital, the more you pay it down the lower your return on equity will become, as you have more cash tied up in an investment that brings in a fixed income. 

That way you have a primary residence plus rental income and gaining equity.

We have our own personal home, but are interested in the idea of having some rental properties to generate additional income and build wealth. 

I'm a LTR guy... but it is a pretty accept fact that short term will give you more income.  

There is no charge whatsoever to use Minoan, you just need to set up an account with them.

Lastly, don't forget about other smart moves like using self-directed retirement accounts or 1031 exchanges to keep your tax bill in check.

Once the renovation was complete, I **Rented** it out to generate steady income.

But the rental income from renting 6-8 bedrooms instead of 4 separate units should be bigger anyways, and I need the cashflow until my income becomes larger.

For out-of-state STRs investors, is it normal for a cohost / property manager to insist on creating an OTA listing on their account to better streamline their systems?

So you need to remember that there are about 4- 6 big box lenders that fund most of the Hard Money loans and then you have thousands of brokers selling their products and lots of times someone thinks they are dealing with a lender but they are not, they are dealing with a broker who has a lending sounding name and this broker is set up with an account at a few different lenders.